UFP JANUARY ... 2020

WOW, two posts in one day!!!

So as with previous years, January is usually the month that I work on all the outstanding UFP’s in my work basket.

I updated my list this year, and the majority of outstanding projects are crochet ones!  We’ll get to them in a minute, but my first finish of 2020 was actually this:

It seems to have taken forever to finish this one, the fill pattern is quite slow to work up.

The next finish I had was this:

This design was recommended by you guys so I hope I’ve done him justice!  Next on the rota is Abra, but I’ll probably not start that one now until next month.

Now onto the crochet…

I have projects in my work basket going back to 2013, which is not that old, considering how long I’ve been working on the “Gettysberg” project, but I was keen to get them done … so, here they are!

I have quite a few other projects that are ready to sew up, or don’t need much crocheting doing to them, and hopefully I can get them all (or some) finished before the end of this month.  If not, I’ll work on them as and when I get time!

Till next time … keep Kalm and cross-stitch!

UFP JANUARY

Howdo again!

Well it's that time of year … its cold, wet, dark and everyone is feeling thoroughly miserable after the excess of Christmas.

I've never liked this time of year and dark days and long nights are not a crafters best friend.  That said, I always use January as a time to have a bit of an early 'spring-clean' by going through my work bag and pulling out those neglected, half-finished projects we forgot we started.

Lets face it, as crafters, we're all guilty of it.  How many of us can honestly say that they finish projects before starting new ones?

It's not so bad if you only do one craft, but as you guys know, I not only cross stitch, but I crochet and knit too!  That can add up to a lot of projects!!!

I keep a log-book of all the new projects I start.  I know that might sound a bit OCD, but its helps me keep track of what I'm working on.  At the start of the new year, I then transfer all the projects that I haven't finished to a new list, which I'll then try and work through in January.

Bit of a chore, I know.

I'll confess, I don't generally tend to get through the entire list.  Out  of last year's list, I only finished one project (the Sloe Fairy cross-stitch kit).

This year, I'll go for two - hahahaha!

Actually, I've just finished "Mr Snuffles":

All joking aside, it would be nice to finish some of my outstanding crochet projects - I have two from 2013 which are more or less at the sewing up stage, and two others started in 2015 that I know I could get finished if I put my mind to it!

Evenings are generally the best time to crochet, and as I'm a bit of a night owl, I can quite happily hook away until one or two in the morning.

So watch this space, I'll try and post updates!

Don't forget, I'm on Instagram now, so you can follow me, if you're not already! I usually post all my WIPs and finished stuff on there.  Don't forget, I'm on DeviantArt too, and I've just updated my gallery, so check it out!

Links to all my Social Media sites can be found via the "Contact Me" tab!

So that's all for now.

Till next time … keep Kalm and cross-stitch!

ANOTHER UFP UPDATE

Howdo peeps!

Well it's been a few weeks since my last post and I thought it was time for an update in relation to my ongoing UFP's!

I have managed to finish one of the projects on my January "to-do" list:

I finally got the "Sloe Fairy" finished!

Have to say that I didn't enjoy it that much towards the end, and the back stitching was a bitch!  It should have a little mount to go with it, but I don't know where this is.  It may be here in my flat somewhere, or in a box in the loft at my brother's house.  If I find it I shall frame it :) x

I've also been doing a bit more of the "Marigold Fairy":

One to pick at slowly.  I did some of this at my Monday afternoon, but being stooped over stitching on such a small piece of aida plays havoc with my back!

Been having another clear out through my stuff (I have so much shredding), and I came across yet another flower fairy kit I'd like to do:

It's the " Cherry Blossom" fairy - the kit came from World of Cross-Stitching magazine in 2011!  Annoyingly, I lost the chart, but thankfully, my mum (who also buys this magazine), had the chart so I was able to copy it.

Might be a while before I start it though ... still have too many other WIP's to finish! ;) 

I haven't been able to work on any of the crochet and knitting projects, but I've made some more headway on the Gettysberg project:

It's such a slow-going project, but it's getting there :)

I've had enough of blue and grey so I'm working on finishing the Union soldier's face and hands!

So that's all I have for now,

Till next time ... keep Kalm and cross-stitch! :) xx

UPDATES ON MY UFP's (and that "Gettysberg" project)

Greetings peeps, hope you are all well!

Remember my post from last year regarding my UPF's, and how I had compiled a list of projects I wanted to complete in January?  It was a long list, and I didn't get through half of it in the end :(

So, I wrote a new list, especially for this year!

So far, the only ones I've touched are the cross-stitch projects.

There were three small projects featured on last year's list that had still not been finished, and I decided that I really needed to finish them.

"The Sloe Fairy"

"Forever Friends"

"The Marigold Fairy"

The last one isn't on the list above, but I decided to include it anyway. The two Flower Fairy kits both use DMC colours and I've had to stock up on some of the colours so I can finish them.

I confess to being a bit wasteful with my thread (shameful, I know)!

The "Sloe Fairy" now only needs the back stitching doing as does the "Forever Friends" one.  I shall keep all three in my workbag until they're all completed!

And, so to that "Gettysberg" project...

Still far from finished after 14 years (yes, really) on and off the frame.  People have told me that they have had projects that have taken much longer to complete than this, so I shouldn't feel too badly about it, but I really would like to see it finished now!

I've probably said this before, but it's not a friendly stitch, due to the fact that it's so huge, and trying to work with three strands on 18 count aida is a nightmare!  I also need a magnifying glass because the holes are tiny (as are the squares on the chart) and I had my first major miscount last week which required quite a bit of unpicking.

Not great on a project that uses neither DMC or Anchor threads.  Dimensions have been good enough to provide me with a conversion chart, but so far I am finding it difficult to get exact colour matches with either DMC or Anchor (in fact, some suggestions are WAY off the mark)!

I hope I can finish it without running out of thread, but it's really testing my wastage skills to the max ... hahaha!

Here's what I've done over the last week:

"Un-picking ahoy!"

I'm not even half-way through :(

My plan is to try and focus on getting the Union soldier's face done plus the flag and the sky, so that the design can be flipped back round the other way on the frame.  The very dark shades of blue are making this hard going, and I can only work on it over short periods of time.

Now that I'm trying to focus on stitching designs that I hope to sell as charts on my Etsy store, this will probably take a back seat, but I'll keep it on the frame (when I'm not using it for other projects), and hopefully it'll keep me motivated to finish it!

So that's it for now, I'm off to stitch something (haha)!

Till next time ... keep Kalm and cross stitch! x

THE RETURN OF THE UFP's...

Hey guys, hope you are all well and looking forward to your weekend!

I feel I must apologise for my previous post which was a bit rambley.  I appear to have had an attack of the verbals, which I hope didn't detract from the stitching :/

Anyway, enough of that.

As you can see from the title of this blog, I have decided to have another go at getting rid of all those outstanding stitchy projects that have been languishing in my sewing box for eons!  It's been a project that's been very stop/start for several years and long-term followers may recall this post from February 2011:

http://gatchastitch.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/ufp-update-february-2011.html

I didn't realise it had been that long!

I put all the smaller outstanding UFP's into one of my sewing bags and made a list of what was outstanding and how long it has been outstanding.  My aim is to try and pick one project a month -- so far I am falling down on that!

Anyway, I took the project featured in the 2011 post as my starting point, because all that was left was the back stitching, and I managed to complete it in a few evenings!!!

And here it is...

Have to say that I am not 100% happy with the finished article.  I suspect that may be because I have worked this on aida when the pattern suggested evenweave.  Back then I had not used evenweave yet and was not comfortable with it.  If I decided to do it again (unlikely), I would use evenweave and it would look so much better!

So that's one project ticked off the list ... only another nine to go :D

Well that's me done blogging for today!

Till next time ... keep Kalm and cross-stitch! xxx